4 Why does it have to be Han? (2/2)

”Pile up. The police was a little excited and caused an accident.”

”Is Ning Ning okay?”

”She's fine,” Richard said, giving An Ning the phone.Richard dialed a number on his car phone and spoke to his secretary.”Tell Dave to stand by. There's somebody I want him to pick up. Tell him to take him to St Luke's in Lithe. That's right. In Lithe. I'm driving a friend there right now. What? It's my brother Han. You'd better call the hospital and tell them what's going on. Call the director. He knows me. Okay, that's it. Talk to you later.”

He glanced at the girl sitting quietly beside him. She was clutching at her stomach, smoothing her pale hands around the slight bulge, her eyes glazed with panic.

”You'll be alright,” Richard said. ”We'll be there soon.”

”The doctor told me it might be dangerous for me,” she said quietly. ”He said my hips were too narrow for pregnancy. He said that I might not carry the baby to full term if I'm not careful.” She gripped her hands tightly. ”But I didn't listen. I put the baby in danger with my own stupidity.I'm scared, Richard. I'm really scared.”

”Nothing will happen to you and the baby. I will not allow it,” he said grimly. ”What surprises me is how fervidly you seem to really want this baby. You didn't seem that much interested in having my child when you were married to me.”

”I don't want to talk about that,” An Ning said awkwardly. ”It's all in the past.”

Richard was livid. He didn't know where his anger was coming from. It's been half a year since their divorce but looking at her, the protective way she was holding her stomach, he suddenly wanted to smash something. To hold it in his hands and destroy it whatever it was.

Perhaps it was envy or jealousy or the sense that he had been tossed aside like a used napkin or something. Her quiet joy looking at the bulge which was her stomach grated at him like electric bolts stinging his skin.

”Perhaps I wasn't good enough to be father material to your kid, right? I cheated on you and humiliated you and you hate me, I understand. But you didn't give me a chance to say sorry, An Ning. You didn't give me a chance to change my mind and that's what really bugs me. And then you went out and slept with my brother. It was all convenient for you, wasn't it?”

”Were you expecting me not to leave even after all you've done?” An Ning was incredulous.'We didn't even have a honeymoon because you were drunk and stayed away while you mooned and cried over your fucking whore. Please...spare me the histrionics of listening to your so-called fucking regrets and that it was me you loved all along.

”You never loved me. You merely tolerated me because I was convenient and available and you were used to me. Like an old bathrobe you can't make yourself throw away because it's familiar and you're used to it. I spent my entire life chasing after you, Richard. I never in my life thought that there will come a time when I would stop and just leave you be. That's the strangest part of all of this. That I would live apart from you and survive.”

”Why does it have to be Han? Why can't it be some other man I didn't know? You could have picked up someone somewhere and it wouldn't have mattered.”

”It does seem strange to realize that you're going to be an uncle to the child of your ex-wife, doesn't it?” An Ning chuckled. ”It's completely mind boggling, man. I totally get where you're coming from.”

”I'm glad to see you find it so funny,” Richard said sarcastically.

”It's totally hilarious.I mean, think about it. How are we going to introduce you to our child?His uncle or his stepdad? You must admit it's fucking crazy.”

”I didn't sleep with Valerie until that night you found us together,” Richard said. his voice quiet and sincere. ”I couldn't hold it in anymore and just wanted you to find out on your own, I guess. I couldn't tell you. I was afraid to tell you. I'm really, truly sorry, An Ning.”

”Thank you,” An Ning said quietly. ”We were so young when we got married. I think we both thought it was the continuation of the future since we've known each other since we were kids. There were no expectations, we thought. We'll get married and live happily ever after and that was it. Cookie cutter perfect. We were both so naïve, Richard,” An Ning smiled ruefully.

”Did I really fall in love with Valerie? How did you know it was love? It could have been infatuation or something. Fascination perhaps?”

”Half a year later and you still don't know? Give me a break. I knew three seconds after I saw the two of you together. The funny thing is you lasted more with her than the length of our marriage, you realize that?”

”I don't know if I want to marry her,” he said, throwing her an uncertain look.

She doesn't seemed surprised by that admission. ”It's probably because you don't carry the weight of adultery anymore. You're now more mentally prepared to deal with the situation with a clear mind. You realize the situation we're in right now? This could have been us if we had stayed married together. You'll be driving me to the hospital while we argue about Valerie. Heck, we're doing it now and I'm not even married to you,” An Ning said. ”Whatever it is you're feeling right now, I think it's part of the moving on process. Whether you marry Valerie or not, you'll be stuck in the same rut of guilt if you don't pull yourself out of it.”

The silence was occasionally broken by An Ning's rasping gasps. When Richard turned and looked at her, she was still in the same position as before, her hands protectively clasped around the bulge on her stomach.

”You didn't even give me a chance,” he can't help but grit out. ”You didn't even fight for me.”

An Ning had no answer to that. They drove to the hospital in complete silence. In a short while, An Ning was wheeled inside with her doctor following closely behind. Richard wanted to leave but Han hadn't arrived yet and he didn't want to leave An Ning on her own.

The examination didn't last long, the doctor later telling Richard that it was a false alarm. Pregnant women were occasionally plagued by gas that seemed serious but really was not. An Ning was embarrassed and refused to meet Richard's amused gaze. Richard's phone rang. It was Han.

”He'll be here in ten,” he told An Ning. ”I'd better go and meet him. Will you be alright waiting here?”

”I'll go with you,” An Ning said, jumping from the bed. ”I'm okay,” she said when Richard was about to protest. ”I need to walk it off anyway.”

The two of them took the private elevator to the rooftop.They were waiting on the helipad when the helicopter came into view. An Ning happily waved her arms in welcome. Richard pulled her away as they waited for the helicopter to touch down.

The helicopter was a few feet away from the ground when the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. Startled, they turned and saw two men wearing black masks rushing towards them. Richard was slow to understand what was happening but he saw the man on his right took something out of a big heavy bag and point it at the approaching helicopter. He shouted something to An Ning who was still gaping at the men in surprise.

Han leaped out of the helicopter and rushed towards An Ning. There was the sound of something like a click and a hiss and the helicopter was blown out of the sky as if it was a kite made of matchstick. The last thing Richard remembered was An Ning's body slamming hard against him as he gripped her in his arms while the world around them burned and turned upside down in the flaming light of the sun.